Afghanistan Under the rule of the
Taliban in Afghanistan,
Sharia law is the sole legal framework governing both criminal and civil matters. The legal system is based entirely on the principles of
Islamic law, primarily following the
Hanafi school of jurisprudence. All offenses are adjudicated in accordance with Sharia, with the application of
hudud (fixed punishments),
qisas (retributive justice), and
tazir (discretionary punishment).
Bahrain Article 2 of Bahrain's 2002 Constitution as originally adopted, as well as after February 2012 amendment, declares Islamic Sharia is a chief source of legislation. Sharia courts handle personal status laws. A personal status law was codified in 2009 to regulate personal status matters. It applies only to Sunni Muslims; there is no codified personal status law for Shiites. In a Sharia court a Muslim woman's testimony is worth half of that of a Muslim man.
Bangladesh Bangladesh has a secular constitution but marriage, divorce, alimony and property inheritance are regulated by Sharia for Muslims. The Constitution also declared Islam as its state religion. The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 (XXVI of 1937) applies to Muslims in all matters relating to family affairs. Islamic family law is applied through the regular court system. There are no limitations on interfaith marriages.
Brunei Sharia courts decide personal status cases or cases relating to religious offences. Sultan
Hassanal Bolkiah declared in 2011 his wish to establish Islamic criminal law as soon as possible. A new penal code enacted in May 2014 prescribes Sharia punishments, including the severing of limbs for property crimes and death by stoning for adultery and homosexuality.
Indonesia Aceh is the only part of Indonesia to apply Sharia to criminal law. Islamic courts in Aceh had long handled cases of marriage, divorce and inheritance. After special autonomy legislation was passed in 2001, the reach of courts extend to criminal justice. Offences such as being alone with an unrelated member of the opposite gender and gambling can be punished with canings. In 2014, the provincial government of
Aceh extended Sharia's reach to non-Muslims whose offenses also involve a Muslim, which they can choose to be punished voluntarily either by national law or regional-based Islamic law. If a non-Muslim commits an offense not covered by the Indonesian national criminal code, the non-Muslim may choose to be punished by their own customary or religious law or under Aceh provincial Sharia Law. However, since 2022, this practice is de facto removed and caning in Aceh applies for Indonesian Muslims only. In other parts of Indonesia, religious courts have jurisdiction over civil cases between Muslim spouses on matters concerning marriage, divorce, reconciliation, and alimony. The competence of religious courts is not exclusive, and parties can apply to District Courts for adjudication on basis of
Roman Dutch law or local
adat.
Suharto's
New Order expanded the reach of Sharia, first with the 1974 Marriage Act, which assigned jurisdiction over the marriage and divorce of Muslims to the Islamic courts (), and with the 1989 Religious Judicature Act, which elevated Islamic courts by making them a parallel legal system, equal to state courts and gave them jurisdiction over inheritance (
wasiyyah), gifts (
hibah) and religious endowments.
Iran Article 167 of the
constitution states that all judicial rulings must be based upon "authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa" by the
Twelver Ja'afari school of jurisprudence. Book 2 of the
Islamic Penal Code of Iran is entirely devoted to
hudud punishments. Iranian application of Sharia has been seen by scholars as highly flexible and directly contradicting traditional interpretations of the Sharia.
Iraq Article 1 of the Civil Code identifies Sharia as a main source of legislation. The 1958 Code "made polygamy extremely difficult, granted child custody to the mother in case of divorce, [and] prohibited repudiation and marriage under the age of 16." Iraq's legal system is based on Islamic Sunni and Jafari (Shi’ite) interpretations of Sharia. Article 41 of the
constitution allows for personal status matters (such as marriage, divorce and inheritance) to be governed by the rules of each religious group. The article has not yet been put into effect, and a unified personal status law remains in place that builds on the 1959 personal status code.
Israel Sharia is one of the sources of legislation for Muslim citizens. Sharia is binding on personal law issues for Muslim citizens. The Family Law in force is the Personal Status Law of 1976, which is based on Sharia. In Sharia courts, the testimony of two women is equal to that of one man.
Kazakhstan Sharia was in force up until early 1920. The 1995
constitution is not based on Sharia.
Kuwait Article 2 of Kuwait's constitution identifies Islamic Sharia as one of the main sources of legislation. According to the
United Nations, Kuwait's legal system is a combination of
British common law,
French civil law,
Egyptian civil law and Sharia. The Sharia-based personal status law for Sunnis is based on the Maliki
fiqh and for Shiites, their own school of Islam regulates personal status. Kuwait attempts to block some internet content prohibited by Sharia, such as
pornography.
Kyrgyzstan It has a civil law system. There are eighteen official religions in Lebanon, each with its own family law and religious courts. For the application of personal status laws, there are three separate sections: Sunni, Shia and non-Muslim. The Law of 16 July 1962 declares that Sharia governs personal status laws of Muslims, with Sunni and Ja'afari Shia jurisdiction of Sharia.
Kelantan and
Perlis, but as of 2014, none of these laws have been implemented, as they contravene the
Federal Constitution. The Malaysian Constitution also states that Islamic laws only apply to Muslims and Sharia courts have no jurisdiction over non-Muslims. The maximum punishment allowable under Sharia criminal law in Malaysia was limited to only 6 strokes of the cane, a fine of RM 5,000, and 3 years in prison by the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, also known as Act 355. Any Sharia criminal law which exceeds the limits imposed under Act 355 are deemed to be unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. However, there has been a proposal to increase these limits, but it remains a controversy among Malaysians. In 2007, Malaysia's
Federal Court in the
Lina Joy case ruled that
apostasy matter lay "within the exclusive jurisdiction of Sharia Courts". In some states, Malaysian Muslims can be sentenced to
sharia-style caning for offences such as drinking beer, and adultery. Several Sharia crimes, such as
khalwat (close proximity of unmarried man and woman) are punishable only in Sharia courts of Malaysia. Publishing an Islamic book that is different from official Malaysian version, without permission, is a crime in some states. Other Sharia-based criminal laws were enacted with "Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territory) Act of 1997". In 1988, the
constitution was amended to state that civil courts cannot hear matters that fall within the jurisdiction of Sharia courts.
Maldives Article 15 of the Act Number 1/81 (Penal Code) allows for
hudud punishments. Article 156 of the
constitution states that law includes the norms and provisions of Sharia.
Myanmar In
Myanmar, Sharia has been applied for personal status issues since colonial times, under section 13 of Burma Law Act, 1898.
Oman Islamic Sharia is the basis for legislation in Oman per Article 2 of its Constitution, and promulgated as Sultani Decree 101/1996. The Personal Statute (Family) Law issued by Royal Decree 97/32 codified provisions of Sharia. Sharia Court Departments within the civil court system are responsible for personal status matters. A 2008 law stipulates that the testimonies of men and women before a court are equal. Oman's criminal law is based on a combination of Sharia and English common law. Omani commercial law is largely based on Sharia; Article 5 of its Law of Commerce defaults to primacy of Sharia in cases of confusion, silence or conflict.
Pakistan The
Constitution of Pakistan acknowledges God as the sole sovereign of the universe and the Parliament as a delegate. The Constitution of Pakistan requires that all laws conform with Islam and not conflict with the Quran or Sunnah. The Council of Islamic Ideology reviewed the British era legislation and found most of it did not conflict with Sharia. Sharia was declared the Supreme Law of Pakistan in the 1991 Enforcement of Shariat Act. Section 4 stipulates that courts select an interpretation of law consistent with Islamic jurisprudence and principles. The Federal Shariat Court was formed to judge the
conformity of Pakistani laws with Islam according to the Quran and Sunnah. It has appellate, original and revisional jurisdiction. It consists of 8 judges including three ulama who are required to be qualified in Sharia. The Federal Shariat Court invalidated 55 federal statutes and 212 provincial statutes over 30 years. Originally certain legislative documents such as the Muslim Personal Law, the Constitution, fiscal and procedural laws were excluded from the original jurisdiction of the Federal Shariat Court. In its 1994 judgement the Supreme Court declared that the term "Muslim personal law" used in Article 203B, which excludes the Federal Shariat Court's jurisdiction under Article 203D only referred to the personal law of each Muslim sect according to their interpretation of the Quran and Sunnah. Hence, the Federal Shariat Court judgement in 2000 held that all other legislation which applied to Muslims in general were under the jurisdiction of the Federal Shariat Court under Article 203D. The court also held that the Constitution had not intended to reduce the role of the Federal Shariat Court. Pakistani evidence law has been brought into conformity with Sharia. However, only 9 sections needed to be changed from the British era 1872 evidence act. The differences in the Islamic version focus more on rules concerning the number, character and competence of eyewitnesses. For example, in financial or future matters, the Law of Evidence says that evidence must be attested to by two men, or one man and two women. The Law of Evidence also requires a court to determine competence of a witness by reference to the Islamic injunctions in the Quran and Sunnah. Qisas and Diyat laws prescribe retaliatory punishments or compensatory blood money for offenses such as murder and injury. Most offences in Pakistani law fall under tazir and siyasah. The Pakistan Penal Code is regarded as a code of tazir offences although it includes siyasah offences too even though the term siyasah is not mentioned. The Hudood Ordinance divides the crimes of zina, qazf, drinking and theft into two categories: those liable to hadd and those liable to tazir. Shariah leaves tazir punishments to discretion. If the strict evidentiary requirements for hadd offences are not fulfilled, the tazir (discretionary) punishments can be awarded to hadd offences too. Tazir punishments can include forms of punishments such as fines, imprisonment and whipping. There are very strict conditions for imposing the hadd punishment of amputation on thieves. The principle used is that the accused will be spared from hadd punishment for any minor doubt and the court will use all legitimate means to avoid imposing a hadd punishment. For this reason, no amputation has ever been occurred for theft. Theft which is committed under pressure is not liable to hadd. Other factors taken into consideration are the relationship between a victim and the culprit as well as the value of the stolen property. However, Section 13 of the Ordinance states that theft which is not liable to hadd can be punished under tazir. The punishment under Pakistan Penal Code such as fines or imprisonment are applied to theft liable to tazir. Pakistani law also classifies robbery (harabah) as a hadd offence. President
Zia ul Haq introduced the Zakat system to Pakistan through the Zakat and Ushr Ordinance (1980). In Ramadan Pakistani banks deduct 2.5 percent from bank accounts above the
Nisab amount. The banks send the collection to the Ministry of Finance. The Zakat and Ushr Ordinance specify which categories of people are eligible for receiving zakat. These include religious students, orphans and the sick. Pakistani ushr law levies 5 percent tax on harvests from artificially irrigated lands and 10 percent tax on lands which are not artificially irrigated. Pakistan eliminated interest from domestic transactions but not from foreign debt. Profit and loss sharing schemes and contract markups were started. However, the ulama considered profit and loss to also be a form of riba. The Finance Minister Ghulam Ishaq Khan admitted this in 1984 and said that illegal profiteering and hoarding had to be eliminated. In 1991, the Federal Shariat Court declared riba to be haram and struck down 32 financial laws for being unIslamic. Two private banks challenged this ruling on the grounds that while they accepted the ruling, there was no alternative available. The federal law minister stated: "the government does not challenge the contention that interest is against the Quran, but the system is so deeply entrenched that it cannot be eliminated overnight." Punishment for apostasy have been effectuated through Pakistan's blasphemy laws. In 2006 the government sent a bill to the parliamentary committee for consideration which would impose the death penalty on apostates. The bill has not been passed yet. The principle is that a lacuna in statute law is to be filled with Sharia. Martin Lau hypothesized that even though there was no statutory provision concerning apostasy, it may already be punishable by death in Pakistan because of this principle. In 2010, the Federal Shariat Court held that apostasy and treason are both hadd offences. In 2010, the Court also invalidated those sections of the 2006 Women's Protection Act which had overrode the clauses of the zina and qazf Ordinances.
Philippines There are Sharia trial and circuit trial courts in
Mindanao, which is home to the country's significant
Filipino Muslim minority. Sharia District Courts (SDCs) and Sharia Circuit Courts (SCCs) were created in 1977 through Presidential Decree 1083, which is also known as the Code of Muslim Personal Laws. In 2024, this was expanded to Visayas and Luzon. Sharia only applies to civil cases involving all Muslims nationwide. Cases are handled in
Bangsamoro and a couple of
Mindanao provinces outside the autonomous region by both Sharia district and circuit courts, organised into five Sharia districts. Outside these areas, Sharia-related cases are processed in civil courts under a session from the five Sharia districts. All other cases, including criminal ones, are dealt with by local civil courts.
Qatar Sharia is the main source of Qatari legislation according to Qatar's Constitution. Sharia is applied to laws pertaining to
family law,
inheritance, and several
criminal acts (including adultery, robbery and murder). In some cases in Sharia-based
family courts, a female's testimony is worth half a man's and in some cases a female witness is not accepted at all.
Flogging is used in Qatar as a punishment for alcohol consumption or illicit sexual relations. In 2012, six expatriates were sentenced to floggings of either 40 or 100 lashes. More recently in April 2013, a Muslim expatriate was sentenced to 40 lashes for alcohol consumption. In June 2014, a Muslim expatriate was sentenced to 40 lashes for consuming alcohol and driving under the influence.
Judicial corporal punishment is common in Qatar due to the
Hanbali interpretation of Sharia. Article 1 of the Law No. 11 of 2004 (Penal Code) allows for the application of "Sharia provisions" for the crimes of theft, adultery, defamation, drinking alcohol and apostasy if either the suspect or the victim is a Muslim.
Saudi Arabia Until 2021, Saudi law was based entirely on Sharia. No codified personal status law existed, which meant that judges in courts ruled based on their own interpretations of Sharia. See
Legal system of Saudi Arabia. Following the disappearance and assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the Saudi regime was subject to accusations of corruption and misrepresentation of Islam. As of 2021, Saudi Arabia has implemented codified personal status laws, including the Personal Status Law, the Civil Transactions Law, the Penal Code for Discretionary Sanctions, and the Law of Evidence implemented by reformist crown prince
Mohammed Bin Salman.
Singapore Sharia courts may hear and determine actions in which all parties are Muslims or in which parties involved were married under Muslim law. Court has jurisdiction over cases related to marriage, divorce, betrothal, nullity of marriage, judicial separation, division of property on divorce, payment of dowry, maintenance, and
muta.
Sri Lanka Private matters of Muslims are governed by Muslim Law, including marriage, divorce custody and maintenance. Muslim law principles have been codified in the Act No. 13 of 1951 Marriage and Divorce (Muslim) Act; Act No. 10 of 1931 Muslim Intestate Succession Ordinance and Act No. 51 of 1956 Muslim Mosques and Charitable Trusts or Wakfs Act.
Syria Article 3 of the 1973
Syrian constitution declares Islamic jurisprudence one of Syria's main sources of legislation. The Personal Status Law 59 of 1953 (amended by Law 34 of 1975) is essentially a codified Sharia. The Code of Personal Status is applied to Muslims by Sharia courts. In Sharia courts, a woman's testimony is worth only half of a man's.
Tajikistan The government is declared to be secular in the
constitution. The remaining provinces of Thailand have a civil law system with common law influences.
Turkmenistan Article 11 of the
constitution declares that religious groups are separate from the state and the state educational system. But the legal system is civil law with Islamic influences.
United Arab Emirates Since September 2020, Sharia is applied to matters of personal status for Muslims and to determine blood money amounts, while other aspects of the law, including criminal law and non-Muslim personal status is governed by civil law. The federal and local court systems comprises Sharia courts and civil courts. In September 2020, corporal punishment was officially removed as a legal form of punishment under UAE federal law. Article 1 of the Federal Penal Code was amended in 2020 to state that Sharia applies only to retribution and blood money punishments and the decree defined legal forms of punishment are retribution and blood money punishments, capital punishment, life imprisonment, temporary imprisonment incarceration, detention, and fines. Previously the article stated that "provisions of the Islamic Law shall apply to the crimes of doctrinal punishment, punitive punishment and blood money" making flogging, stoning, amputation, and
crucifixion technically legal punishments for criminal offences such as adultery,
pre-marital sex, and drug or alcohol consumption.
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan has a civil law system. Penal law provides for application of hadd penalties for certain crimes, although the extent of implementation is unclear. Article 263 of the 1994 penal code states that "the adulterer and adulteress without suspicion or coercion are punished with whipping by one hundred strokes as a penalty if not married. [...] If the adulterer or the adulteress are married, they are punished by stoning them to death." ==Europe==